The Quarry is a slow-burn thriller set around a group of friends meeting at a waterlogged & long abandoned quarry on one summer day. The Uruguay film features a small, but well-realized cast- with the tension slowly but surely notching up over the film’s length in a decidedly compelling manner.  Here from Jinga Films is a bare-bones region-free DVD release of the picture.

The Quarry (aka In The Quarry, En El Pozo) is from the year 2019. It was co-directed/ co-written by Bernardo Antonaccio & Rafael Antonaccio- who I’m presuming are related somehow. Bernardo has three director credits to his name- with the other two being the shorts Extracorpus (2012) which is seemingly wheelchair-based horror, and Revolveres y Rosas (2016) which is a music short. He also had a few location manager posts. Rafael has one other director’s credit to his name Revolveres y Rosas - though he has around ten Cinematographer credits, and this certain shows in the film to hand as there are some really nicely captured & moody shots in the film.

The film is set on a burning hot summer day in a quarry- that hasn’t been active for the last thirty or so years. A large part of it is filled with water- and it’s certainly a wonderful barren place, which is filmed in a nicely moody, manner- with a lightly twanging stringed score creating a feeling of both uneasy and building tension.

The film has a key cast of just four twenty-somethings - we have Alicia (Paula Silva) & her boyfriend Bruno (Augusto Gordillo Lisboa) they are just back from their home in the city to visit her two friends/ buddies Tincho (Rafael Beltrán ) & Tola (Luis Pazos) who live in the nearby small town.

From the off it’s made clear there is somewhat of a love triangle with Alicia & Tincho carrying on an affair behind Bruno’s back. And as the film unfolds the tension starts to rise in the group- with only the bearded/ laid-back Tola managing to keep things chilled to begin with. But as you probably guess it start to get more & more edgy- moving towards a taut, then rather downbeat resolve.

Acting-wise all of the cast is perfectly placed- with Silva shifting between being flirty, stand-offish, and fearful. Lisboa plays well the decidedly smug & arrogant city dweller.  With Beltrán & Pazos making for believable buddies. 

The dialogue is well written and key to films unfold/ pull - as the tension between the group builds & builds- with only real fleeting moments of threat & violence. So, you most certainly have to be open for a slow-burn thriller. Though it never really drags- as it slides in at the one hour & twenty-two minutes mark

As mentioned earlier this is a barebones release- with just the film (in Spanish with English subs), and a trailer reel. This is a bit of a pity really- as it would have been nice to hear a little bit about how the picture came about, etc- but I understand this isn’t always possible.

In finishing if you enjoy slowly building tension-based thrillers with a small well-acted cast The Quarry will be for you. And I do hope this isn’t of one-off feature from Bernardo & Rafael- as there is real promise here, and I’d really like to see what these directors/ writers work on next.